Georgia athlete Myles Willis commits to UCF after junior day tour

Atlanta Marist athlete Myles Willis committed to UCF Saturday, making him the Knights' second pledge of the 2013 recruiting class.

Willis (5-10, 180) said earlier in the week that the Knights were his favorite school, but he was unsure if he was prepared to commit since he had visits to other schools planned.

As soon as Willis arrived at UCF for junior day Saturday morning, he was greeted warmly by UCF's coaching staff. Offensive line coach Brent Key playfully roughhoused with him while offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe gave Willis a big smile.

"That's when I knew this was going to end up being the place," said Willis, who visited UCF during the Knights' home game against Marshall last season. "I feel relieved because it's something I wanted to do for a while. Finally being able to go do it feels great."

Already familiar with UCF's campus, Willis paid more attention to the feeling he got around the players and coaches than the actual environment around him. He said that head coach George O'Leary's old-school style stuck out to him, and he also likes the way the Knights plan on using him.

The Knights view Willis -- a triple option quarterback in high school -- as a general offensive player capable of playing running back, slot receiver or wildcat quarterback. The coaches also said they wanted to use him as a punt returner early in his career.

"There are just a lot of versatile opportunities for me with the ball in my hand," Willis said. "I've always liked that title to my name, being the playmaker. Even with their plans of me, it felt like the perfect fit."

Willis is rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.com. UCF is his sole offer, but Boston College, Georgia Tech, UAB and Western Kentucky are among many schools that are showing interest in him. He was planning to visit Boston College and Western Kentucky after touring UCF, but Willis said he will now reevaluate whether he will indeed take the visits.

"I'm not really sure," he said. "I do want to see Boston College because you don't want to leave anything unseen. After visiting UCF, I can't imagine seeing anything else that I would want. That's something I will have to speak with my parents and my coaches about."

During his visit to UCF Saturday, Willis met Crestview running back Micah Reed. Reed committed to the Knights on Monday, becoming UCF's first pledge of the 2013 recruiting class.

The two exchanged text messages for seven hours Friday night and picked up where they left off upon meeting each other at UCF Saturday.

"As soon as I saw him, we kept on talking," Willis said. "It felt like I knew him forever. He was more nervous than I was because he said he had turned down Florida, so he wanted to make sure everything was the way it was and the facilities at UCF blew him away."

Both players hung out for most of the junior day and got a chance to talk to former UCF great and Detroit Lions running back Kevin Smith during the team's practice.

"[Smith] just spoke about how UCF is a great land of opportunity and stuff," Willis said. "He said at this school, you have great coaches that will be there for you and a great environment."

Willis said that he will join Reed promoting UCF to other recruits, working to make the Knights' first recruiting class slated to play in the Big East a memorable one.

"[Reed] said he wants to get other recruits follow his lead and help [UCF] progress," Willis said. "That's how I felt too. Me and him, by making an early commitment, we can tell other guys too to come along. With this class, it's going to be the first class in the Big East, so we're a class that's going to have a lot of hype around us, so we just want to make it the best class possible."

Brendan Sonnone contributes to the Orlando Sentinel's recruiting coverage. He can be reached at brendansonnone@gmail.com.